Will her landlord have to pay for this?

Question

My cousin lives in an apartment in Fullerton, CA. She has been getting sick lately and she believes it is from molds or toxins in her apartment. She wants to hire someone to check it out and get it fixed if there are any. Should she talk to the landlord first? Would she have to pay for this or would the landlord have to?

Answer 1

pick up the phone and ask

if the landlord..will not then ..go ahead and do it..

heard of someone had a dead animal in the wallboards...
no one knew..but it stunk...
hired pro's to figure it out..

so go for it.............amazing what could be behind a drywall job..or a dirty fridge.

most contractors will verbally or come out and give an estimate..

if you can not afford to do this..
then go to the Doctor...
the person is sick....and that is what Doctor's do
could be mould, could be allergy, could be phobia..
take her to the Doctor........
Doctor can do allergy tests as well...........
pronto............

stop blaming the house.......could be really really sick.. with cancer or something........go get a Doctor........
good luck

Answer 2

My suggestion is that your cousin moves. I have had this complaint before, and I think it is mostly psychosomatic. People don't like the property, so they manifest it in allergies.

There could be a problem, and your cousin could pay for an inspection, but I know of no requirement for a landlord to abate mold. Some people are allergic some are not.

Every house has mold in it. It cannot be escaped. The houses don't breath like they used to because of the insulation we use.

Your cousin could do some things to abate the allergens she is experiencing. Clean the carpet. Clean and/or paint the walls and ceiling.

Sometimes the problem actually is the carpet. These get dirtier than one would ever think. I've steam cleaned my carpet then a couple of weeks later vacuumed it with a new bagless vacuum and hepa filter. There was more dirt than I could believe that came out of that carpet. It was left there, even after the steam cleaning.

Ultimately, I'd suggest your cousin move. It is unlikely they would be able to abate the problem to her satisfaction.

Good Luck.

Answer 3

I am both a property manager for landlords and a tenant. I'm well-versed in the laws of New York on these issues. Altho laws vary by state, if she is that concerned about health issues relating to mold (I also have a background in health/nutrition pertaining to pathogens of all kinds including fungal/molds and resulting toxins) her best bet, as another poster suggested, is to move. It would be extremely difficult and expensive to prove any liability for any sickness based on mold, and negligence would have to be proven to make the landlord liable. Lots of time and lots of money and aggrivation for all parties, while she may continue to get sicker. If she's that convinced she has a health-related mold problem, give proper notice to the landlord (it's 30 days in NY) and move pronto. It's in the best interests of both herself and the landlord, and any attempt to hold the landlord liable for something so difficult to prove would be frowned upon by any third party (court, etc).

Answer 4

The "mold" problem is one of the biggest scams in history!
Tell your friend to go to a doctor if she is sick and stop diagnosing herself.